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.~. ~....•.~ IN REPLY RFFFR TO.: ES(CO:COE MS 65412 GJ • ~,~ 91999 Western C~adc ReOula:cry Ulti~~ -United States Department of the Interior ~~ FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE Fmlo®d Servicr, 764 Horimn Drive, Building B []~4.~ ~~Q~. `~. Grand Junction, rAiorld0 fiI506-3946 April 8, 1999 Sacramento District 1325 J Street Sacramento, California 95814-2922 Lt. Colonel Michael J. Walsh U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Re~~;~~d APR 1 5 ~9gg ®M~n jn9oe lefd py~ M -gq, oz S o,,~,, Re: Public Notice Number 199875455, Grand Junction Pipe, Soaring.Eagle Gravel Pi+., Mesa County. Colorado Dear Colonel Walsh: This responds tG the subject public notice in which the applicant is proposing to gravel mine 105 acres of a floodplain of the Colorado River within sections 34 and 35. T. 1 N., R. 2 W., and section 16, T. 11 S., R. 101 W., Mesa County, Colorado. The U.S. fish and Wildlife Service has reviewed the subject Public Notice and offers the following comments. These comments have been prepared under the authority of. and in accordance with, the provisions of the Endangered Species Act (16U.S.C. 1531 et. seq.) and the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (48 Stat. as amended; 16 U.S.C. 661 et. seq.) and constitute the report of the Department of the Interior. As you are aware, the proposed project site is located within designated critical habitat of the endangered Colorado pikeminnow` (Ptychocheilus Lucius) and razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus). Floodplain alteration and water depletions associated with the proposed project may affect these species as well as the endangered humpback chub (Gila cypha) and bonytail (Gila eiegans). It is also within the range of the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher (Empidonax trai])i.i extimus). peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) and the threatened bald eagle (Hatiaeetus ieucocephalus). The Service received your letter initiating formal Endangered Species Act section 7 consultation on March 29, 1999. The Service concurs with your 'not likely to adversely affect" determination for the southwestern willow flycatcher, peregriri; falcon, and bald eagle because the proposed project avoids direct disturbance of the habitats of these species by providing a riparian buffer zone. The proposed plan. provides a riparian buffer between the mining area and the Colorado River and an island in the Colorado River. The island and the riparian areas provide habitat for bald eagles and potentially southwestern willow flycatchers and the prey species of the peregrine falcon. The Service also concul•s with your determination that the proposed project may affect the four endangered `formerly squawfish